Police Shoot And Kill Man Lying On Ground In Handcuffs At Fruitvale BART

by reposted
Thursday Jan 1st, 2009 6:36 PM

BART spokesman Jim Allison said the officer's gun went off while police were trying to restrain 22-year-old Oscar Grant at the station on East 12th Street around 2:15 a.m., shortly after a train from San Francisco arrived.

(01-01) 13:51 PST -- A young man allegedly involved in a possible scuffle aboard a BART train was shot to death by a BART police officer on the platform of the Fruitvale Station early today. .... While witness accounts reported by news organizations indicate Grant was on the ground and handcuffed when he was shot, Allison would not confirm the victim had been detained.

Jeez, maybe the cop was afraid to pull out his Taser for fear of getting second guessed by all the "use of force experts" on this message boards? But then, Oscar wouldn't be dead either...we shouldn't have cops at all.....if we got rid of all the cops less people would be dead....at least dead by the cops!!!!!

WHEN WILL THERE BE A LARGE RALLY & MARCH TO COMMEMORATE THE SHOOTING AND DEATH OF OSCAR GRANT?

Had this been the other way around where the boy shot and killed the officer in the back while his friends had him pinned down to the ground, he'd be sitting in Santa Rita along with the rest of his friends waiting to be put on death row. Where is the officer who publicly executed this boy? I haven’t heard any word of his arrest!

It just goes to show that there is no American justice, only favoritism and double standards in American society. Here we have several video's at different angles where the police have the boy subdued lying flat on his stomach with 2 officers on top of him when a 3rd cop standing behind him draws his gun for no apparent reason and blasts him away.

All of this is on video and the media is asking questions as to whether or not this was an accident or justified. What the hell is wrong with the mainstream media today and why hasn’t anybody expressed any outrage over this? Should we just allow the media to side with the police every time they brutalize or murder someone? When is enough going to be enough?

When someone kills a police officer, do the media ever voice their concern as to whether it was an accident or if it was justified? Ask your self these questions and you will see whose side they are really on. There would have been no questions asked accept to demand the boy be locked up and given the harshest punishment of the law; the “Death Penalty”. These are the injustices of the American system.

And what about the cell phones the police had confiscated from the witnesses at the scene of the crime? Those all had evidence on them and they took it away to try and cover up the murder. That's conspiracy to conceal evidence. They are obstructing justice and should be put on trial for enabling the gunman to get away with murder. By a chance of luck the police weren't able to confiscate everyone’s camera. A very heroic Union City girl came forth with footage of her own showing the dark side of the law THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO SEE!

Judging from the video this is no other than a “PUBLIC EXECUTION”; video that could be used as evidence to prosecute anybody else that had committed the same crime. But will it stand as evidence to be used against a cop? If not then why do we have a justice system? We may as well throw it out if fails us this time. Most criminals would love to get the same pat on the wrist but only the government is allowed to commit crimes in the name of security, protection, and service and be allowed to get away with it.

Where is all the public outrage right now? We must break our silence by standing up and to demand that this cop have a trial of his own just like every other human being. “No More Double Standards & No More Special Treatment for Police!

The BART Cop that shot Grant would have to be ''special '' (as in mentally retarded ) if he actually thought he had his taser in his hand instead of his Glock automatic pistol ! This isn't the first murder of an unarmed young Black man by a BART cop. In the early 90's Jerrold Hall was shot in the back by a shotgun wielding cop outside of the Hayward station. He was unarmed , there was a big outcry , several rallies (one of which featured Tupac early in his career ) but no indictment , no trial . The cop in question later on accidentially killed himself . But there was no justice for Jerrold Hall.

The shooting of this young man is totally un-acceptable. However it is typical. Those cops do not need guns.(period) Lets all keep in mind that Mr. Grant was not shot once, but twice. At close range the bullet will pass through the victim. Thats what there designed to do, and in this case the bullet ricochet-ed off the floor and back up into his body. This is likely what killed him so think about this: His body on the floor may have saved an innocent bystander from getting hit by the passing bullet. So personally I find him to be a lifesaver and victim. Oh by the way. When will we the people stand up against a brutal police force that only serves the needs of a racist and corrupt government?

"The shooting of this young man is totally un-acceptable. However it is typical. Those cops do not need guns.(period)"

Absolutely correct, with a murder rate of 36.4 per 100,000, it's quite plain to see that the police in that area shouldn't have guns, since they're the obvious cause of so much violence in the area.[/sarcasm]

If Charles Manson had murdered your loved one, would you call Charles Manson and give him all the information you had about the murder so he could help bring justice? Well, it appears the BART cop murdered Oscar Grant so why would the public cooperate with BART and BART police who have so much to loose in all of this? They will loose money and credibility. Wouldn't it appear that their interest is not to see justice brought forth but to be distorted or perverted somehow. this is so typical...

Remember Patrick Gonzalez, the OPD cop, who shot Gary King, Jr in the back and killed him. Well, he is still on the streets of Oakland. Did you ever see a public report on this incident? I never did although the police department and city hall promised this. The public is never served by these self serving investigations.

We are very sorry to report that on December 31, Andrew Moppin, an Oakland native youth, was gunned down and killed by the police and this is a situation that must be addressed. This was discussed at the BAIAR meeting last Friday and we are asking that community members please write the OPD and express your feelings about this senseless loss. This young man was robbed of his life and the police officers invovled must account for their actions. A link to the full article is below. If further action is planned it will be posted when we find out. Thank you.

Services for Andrew will be held January 10th, Thursday at 10 am at Colonial Chapel, followed by a memorial gathering at IFH around 2 pm. We send our condolances to the family for their loss.

OAKLAND — A man shot to death Monday night by two police officers who said they thought he was reaching for a gun after he ran from a car was identified Wednesday as 20-year-old Andrew Moppin. It turned out Moppin did not have a gun and investigators are still not sure why he ran from the vehicle. http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_7870440

The letter below was drafted by Corrina Gould, community activist, IPOC organizer and staffperson at the Child Resource Center. The letter should be addressed to the Internal Affairs Dept, OPD as well as the Citizens Review Board. Please save a copy of your letter so that we can follow up on community demands for investigation of Andrew's tragic death.

We are writing this letter on behalf of the American Indian Community of Oakland. We are concerned and outraged as a community to have had one of our young people shot down in the streets of Oakland by two police officers on December 31, 2007. As there is an increase of violence and death in the streets, our youth have far more to fear than that of being brutally taken down by those that are supposed to uphold the laws in our city. As Oakland has one of the highest populations of American Indians in the country, and our imprisonment rate and rate of violence against American Indian’s is, disproportionate to others we are demanding an independent investigation of the murder of Andrew Moppin.

Numerous studies indicate that disparities exist between American Indians and whites in arrest, sentencing, and incarceration rates. An analysis of traffic stop data conducted by the Institute on Race and Poverty reveals some not so surprising results. It found that American Indians were stopped and searched at higher rates than Whites, yet as a result of these searches, this study found that American Indians are less likely to have contraband as compared to White drivers. With national research such as this, it is imperative that the investigation of the Police Officers involved in this crime be completed by an outside impartial agency.

The American Indian community mourns the loss of one of our youth and expect that the city of Oakland will seek justice for the family.

I totally disagree that the officers gun just went off. Obviously the officer doesn't know or understand his job as a peace officer. First of all you never pull your weapon unless you, the officer are in danger. If the suspect is unarmed, and especially when he/she is lying on the ground face down, there was no reason to harm or kill the suspect. The officer should be fired, never allowed to serve as an officer or carry a gun and evaluated for mental stability and whether or not his actions were criminal. I currently working as armed security officer I could handle this situation so much better that this police officer. My suggestion is bart should hire armed security like myself to secure the community.

If this happened 15 years ago those cops would have placed a gun in the hand of the victim and drugs in his pocket.

BART Police Chief Gary Gee said it was an "accident." What part of this assassination was an accident? Deciding the use of a gun was necessary when the suspect was face down on the ground? Reaching for the gun? Unbuckling the gun from the holster? Pulling the gun from the holster? Inactivating the safety mechanism on the gun? Pointing the gun at the back of the victim? Pulling the trigger?

That's like saying someone accidentally took a shower.

This is what happens when you give power to the weakest members of society; those with a low I.Q. and unresolved childhood issues of control. Instead of therapy they are given a gun and a badge to hide behind. Considering the educational requirements to be a cop is a GED -Good Enough Degree- maybe we shouldn't be surprised, caveat emptor. Not to mention this rookie cop was on the job for 2 years. So what you have is an angry 20-something-year-old uneducated kid whose been empowered with a gun and hides behind a badge and is now working through is mental problems one bullet at a time.

The only thing left is the cover up and if the past is any indication of the future they will do an excellent job at hiding the truth.

God bless the police for they are not just above the law, they are the law.

Are there any calls for people in other cities to do actions? Maybe a day of action to raise awareness and show solidarity or something like that. If not, we can probably figure out things on ourselves, but I think it would be better if a call came from the community most directly affected.

It is clear that the police officer pulled his weapon the question is why? I see the man laying on the ground the other officer had the man on the ground he was not treating the officer for him to use deadly force but he did. Know we have another Israelite Man dead but that gentile will not have to answers for his crime against that dead Young Israelite man. His daughter does not have a father anymore but the times are going to get worst not better for the Israelite Nation. It is time we wake up as a nation to understand who we are as a nation of people to the Most High.